1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to an input device which can be applied to an electronics device such as a mobile terminal device like a cellular phone or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance), a personal computer, an electrical component of a car, or a game machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are some types of input devices for an electronics device, as typified by a mouse and so on. Japanese Patent No. 3530764 and Japanese patent Application Publication No. 2003-306149 disclose examples of the input devices. It is necessary to reduce the size or the thickness of the input device in order to apply the input device to a small electronics device.
For example, it is necessary to reduce number of switches or to remove movable portions in order to reduce the size or the thickness of the input device.
However, a function of the input device is decreased and operating feeling is degraded, when the number of switches is reduced or movable portions are removed. That is, an operator can operate the input device easily and can carry out many operations with the input device, if there are as many as switch functions and rotary portions.